Key Terms:

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to develop and express questions about a written text.

Lesson

Introduction
(10 minutes)

Tell students that today's lesson will involve asking questions about a story.

Let them know that you'll read a story, and that after you finish reading, you'll ask them two questions about what you've read. Once you're done, they'll become teachers and write their own questions.

Project and play The Lion and the Rat.

Ask no more than two questions about the story's elements (e.g. regarding author's purpose or point of view).

Explicit Instruction/Teacher Modeling
(10 minutes)

Show students how to formulate their own questions using the 5 W's: who, what, when, where, and why. For example, using Little Red Riding Hood, one can ask questions like: Why did Red Riding Hood visit Grandma? Who did she meet when she walked through the woods?

Tell the students that when sentences begin with asking words, they usually ask questions and end with question marks.

Guided Practice/Interactive Modeling
(10 minutes)

Repeat the two questions you modeled during Explicit Instruction.

Write the two questions on the board. Underline the word why in the first sentence. Circle the question mark.

Pull out an equity stick and ask the student to read the other sentence. Have him circle the who, what, when, where, or why, as you did for the first sentence.

Call on another student to identify the question mark and circle it.

Independent Working Time
(15 minutes)

Give a half-sheet of lined paper to each student.

Have students copy down both sentences from the board, including the markings that were made.

Circulate the room to make sure all students are on task.

Replay The Lion and the Rat. Tell students to each write one question they would like to ask on the lined paper.

Extend

Differentiation

Enrichment: Encourage the students to use other words that can begin an asking sentence, e.g. how, can, if, did, and will.

Support: Students who have difficulty writing a sentence can be placed in small groups. Work with them to collectively come up with a sentence.

Review

Assessment
(10 minutes)

Collect students' half-sheets. Assess their understanding based on whether their questions make sense, whether their asking words are identified, whether their question marks are identified, and whether their sentences are properly written.

Review and Closing
(5 minutes)

Review the main aspects of a question (asking word, question mark) once again.